The Birth of a Dream

 Late winter and early spring of 2018, was full of changes for me, growth as a person and continuing the journey to become who I am today and who I will continue to grow into. Many years before, I had read an article about Harl Hammer who had founded Vermont Composting Co, first with a team of mules and a wagon around 1998, going around to local farms, grocery stores and restaurants, collecting food waste, manure and animal bedding. He faced many challenges in the years that followed, but eventually it became a thriving business. What inspired me the most was that he had a large flock of chickens who lived off the compost piles and thus didn’t require purchased grains. So he took what was once considered garbage and turned it into not only a usable soil amendment, but also fresh eggs that he could sell. I had been composting with my chickens since around 2009, but just with our own food scraps and garden waste. In 2011 and 2012, I had gotten a 30 yard dumpster load of animal bedding from the Delaware County Fair, which produced a massive amount of compost, plus provided “work” for the chickens to entertain themselves. Since moving in Nov 2014 and starting over from scratch, I had gotten some free mulch hay and other compost materials, but up until then, I had done everything by hand. I knew that if I was to increase the input of compostable materials, I would need a piece of equipment. After much research, we decided to go with a mini skid steer, since we were limited in size due to the set up of the chicken yard and property in totality. Of course we prayed about it, but the price range was too much for me to afford, so my brother offered to help me purchase one. Still, most were out of reach. Until one day, he found a rental company in New Jersey that was selling their older Toro Dingo for a price we could both afford. Granted, when I say afford, it meant dipping into my savings that I had set aside for “marriage / starting a household”. But since that ship wasn’t on the near future horizon, I figured it’d be safe to invest in a piece of equipment that would make farm work easier and might open up the possibility of being able to handle more food waste. 

Besides, that’s how I had usually handled difficult situations in the past - thrust myself into something new! Not the best coping mechanism in hindsight, but alas, that’s how I had gotten through other disappointments, loss and other changes I didn’t like. Not to get off on a rabbit trail, but the same year we had a huge family upheaval, I “adopted” the neighbor’s two chihuahuas and made them my playmates. Though Bo didn’t become my own until my 10th birthday, those little dogs were how I could “escape”. Years later, when my second dog, Boquet, got hit by a car and died, I subsequently got rabbits. And a few months later, when Bo died, I got Muscovy Ducks! See the pattern?  When I passed my “married by 23” goal, I started breeding my own chickens, since hatching chicks was kind of a substitute for having kids of my own! So, it’d only stand to reason, when I didn’t get married to who I thought was “The One”, that I would thrust myself into starting my own business, right? Well, at that time, I didn’t see the pattern as clearly as I do now. 

Regardless of the perhaps misguided attempt at trying to divert my attention away from the disappointment and hurt, the path ahead started to look promising. I chose the name Delhi Community Compost and friends designed a sketch for my logo.

I began advertising on Facebook and Instagram, going to the farmers market, various events, put up signs and handed out business cards. Little by little, I had increased interest. I had a newspaper article written about DCC, and people started contacting me, wanting more information. Yet, being totally business-minded illiterate, I just viewed it as a community service and before I knew it, I was running around town and all over, for FREE! Yet, I loved it, because it gave me purpose and value, and I could feel good about myself, even though my life was nothing like what I had imagined it would be. I spent more money on this “project”, did a few presentations at other places and learned how to interact with people I didn’t know and talk to them about “my passion”. It was in many ways, a dream come true! I didn’t know where it would go from here, and I didn’t have a plan. I trusted that if God had opened up the doors thus far, He’d show me what the next steps would be. 

By the end of 2018, I did a financial summary and realized that if I was to continue this “project”, I needed at least some money coming in and not just money going out! But, still clueless about how to run a business, I checked the going rates of other similar services, yet ignored their recommendations. I set a ridiculously low price for the service, but it was partly because I didn’t want to lose my current “customers”. As 2019 sped on,  I had requests from various events to collect food waste, new household pickups and set up drop off locations in other towns. At the peak, I was traveling at least 60-80 miles a week to pickup food waste, nearly every other weekend was booked with events. Yet I was still losing money, and couldn't keep up with the exploding amount of food waste and compostables, plus I was also working part time at 2-3  jobs! I was burning the candle at both ends, as they say. But being “young and foolish”, I didn’t heed the warning of those older and wiser to slow down. I thought "I can do it all."

(To be Continued…)